CVE-2021-39138: Vulnerability in Bitnami Parse Server

parse Updated 02 Oct 2025

Summary

06/03/2024

Disclosed on

CVE-2021-39138

CVE

Yes i

Fix available

Medium

Severity

Not published

CVSS Score

CVE-2021-39138: New anonymous user session acts as if it's created with password. Affects parse versions < 4.5.1. Fixed in 4.5.1. How to fix ↓

Also tracked for

parse-server · npm

The same CVE-2021-39138 is tracked separately for each ecosystem and vendor. Its fix information is the same; the package and affected versions differ.

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Background

Bitnami Parse Server is an open source backend that can be deployed to any infrastructure running Node.js. It provides a REST API for user signup and anonymous login. The server incorrectly creates session data for anonymous users, classifying them as password users in the createdWith field of the _Session class. This misclassification can lead to incorrect access level decisions if developers rely on the createdWith field. The vulnerability affects versions prior to 4.5.1 of Parse Server.

Vulnerability Detail

The vulnerability arises from the incorrect classification of anonymous user sessions as password user sessions in the createdWith field. This can result in incorrect access level decisions if developers depend on the createdWith field for distinguishing between password users and anonymous users. However, the server does not currently utilize the createdWith field for internal functions, so only developers directly using it are affected. The issue has been patched in Parse Server version 4.5.1.

How To Fix

Minimum fixed version

4.5.1

This is the first release that contains the fix.

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Workaround

As a workaround, developers can avoid using the createdWith field in the Session class to make access level decisions if anonymous login is allowed.

Conclusion

The vulnerability in Bitnami Parse Server allows anonymous user sessions to be incorrectly classified as password user sessions. This can result in incorrect access level decisions if developers rely on the createdWith field. Upgrading to Parse Server version 4.5.1 or later fixes the issue. For further support on vulnerability remediation, contact DevNack.com.

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